TRACK 11. CONCRETE PAVEMENT ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

TRACK 11 OVERVIEW

The problem statements in this track address economics and business management issues in concrete paving. The research outlined here will quantify the value and benefits of concrete pavements and ensure that an adequate delivery mechanism is in place to supplement the
low bid system. This track, when implemented, will help clarify the relationship between concrete pavements and economic issues, capital availability, risk and risk transfer, and alternative contracting.
The research in this track will develop the following:

An administrative support group to provide professional management services for the CP Road Map Research Management Plan.

An innovative concrete pavement technology procurement program.

Methods for achieving sustainability with concrete pavements.

An improved understanding of the economic and systemic impacts of concrete pavement mix-of-fixes strategies for all levels of roadways from low to very high traffic.

The following introductory material summarizes the goal and objectives for this track and the gaps and challenges for its research program. A table is included to show an overview of the subtracks and problem statements in the track. A table of estimated costs provides the projected cost range for each problem statement, depending on the research priorities and scope determined in implementation. The problem statements, grouped into subtracks, follow.

Track 11 Goal

The research in this track will clarify the relationship between concrete pavements and economic issues, capital availability, risk and risk transfer, and alternative contracting.

Track 11 Objectives

The track 11 objectives are as follows:

Understand more clearly the economics of concrete pavements, fix alternatives, and the cost implications of engineering improvements as they relate to pavement performance.

Determine the best combination of concrete pavement solutions (mix of fixes) that balances funds, traffic impact, and network efficiency.

Develop an array of alternate contracting techniques that enhance the procurement of concrete pavements with a clear determination of risk between the owner and the contractor.

Develop optimum technology transfer, training, and outreach for the entire concrete paving workforce that the new generation of efficient, targeted, high-quality, cross-disciplined, and available-on-demand pavements will require.

Track 11 Research Gaps

The track 11 research gaps are as follows:

The impact of today’s concrete pavement preservation alternatives (e.g., diamond grinding, DBR, joint and crack resealing) on future pavement life and performance is either insufficiently understood or accepted. Full-scale test sections for innovative preservation activities that function under actual traffic loadings will provide information that can establish the cost and benefits of such activities. These tests would develop information gained through the limited LTPP studies (Specific Pavement Studies (SPS)-4 and SPS-6). Because well-timed preservation activities can extend the service life of concrete pavements cost effectively, appropriate research studies must address this significant gap in knowledge.

Misconceptions about the economics of concrete pavements are common. In most markets, concrete pavements generally are considered a higher priced option than asphalt solutions when examining initial costs, but are considered equal or lower priced options when addressing life-cycle costs. This belief is common under current design procedures. However, few existing tools can determine the actual initial costs effectively, which include the price of items such as joints, sealers, and tie-bars in various designs and in specific projects. Instead, most estimating is based on previous bid estimates. In addition, long-term LCCAs lack the ability to improve maintenance analyses and user impacts. Additionally, alternative contracting techniques such as design-build, best value, or warranties have cost implications that have not been studied. Importantly, the relationship between the risk involved for the concrete pavement designer/builder and the best methods for equalizing or quantifying the risk is insufficiently understood. If warranties continue to gain popularity, with or without maintenance requirements, then new bonding, insurance, and guarantee mechanisms must be explored. Government and industry roles are changing, and tools need to be developed that equitably evaluate
the risks.

The current concrete pavement research system often stifles innovation. Much of the current research develops incremental improvements to concrete pavement products, while creative entrepreneurs have no place to present their ideas, and funds assist innovators only in the development path. Contracting methods that allow the contractor to innovate (design-build, warranties, and incentive specifications) face bureaucratic hurdles that need to be reconsidered.

Information is transferred too slowly to policymakers, engineers, and the concrete paving workforce. The concrete paving industry lacks innovation due to the return on investment and the considerable time it takes to transfer innovation into practice across the United States.

Track 11 Research Challenges

The track 11 research challenges are as follows:

Understand more clearly the impact that today’s concrete pavement preservation alternatives (e.g., diamond grinding, DBR, and joint and crack resealing) have on future pavement life and performance. Full-scale test sections for innovative preservation activities under actual traffic loadings will provide valuable information to establish the costs and benefits of preservation activities. This research should include all levels of roadways from low to very high traffic volumes.

Organize and conduct fair, valid, and easy-to-use economical studies for industry practitioners. These studies will obtain valid cost information that had been exclusive to the industry.

Examine options for increased public-private partnerships that balance initial costs, maintenance operations, traffic growth, and toll revenues. Interest is developing in public-private partnerships that allow investors to consider financing the capital expenditures in return for either real or shadow tolls. The pavement costs can be 40 to 60 percent of a capital expenditure, and various options have a significant impact when compared to traffic and tolling.

Move the concrete paving industry beyond incremental improvements to innovative technologies. The industry often has only incrementally improved concrete pavement technology. This research system has limited concrete paving development to JCP and CRCP, with the latter generally on the decline.

Facilitate the implementation of incentive-based contracting. Incentive-based contracting is discussed at the policy level, but it faces many obstacles for developing details and conducting experimental projects.

Create strategies for developing the concrete paving workforce. The diverse workforce does not always commit to addressing concrete pavement issues on a national or regional basis, and funding for such efforts often is difficult.

Research Track 11 Estimated Costs

Table 59 shows the estimated costs for this research track.

Table 59. Research track 11 estimated costs.

Problem Statement

Estimated Cost

Subtrack 11-1. Concrete Pavement Research and Technology Management and Implementation

11-1-1. The CP Road Map Research Management Plan Administrative Support Group

$8.5 million ($850,000/year)

11-1-2. Accelerated Evaluation and Implementation of Concrete Pavement Research and Technology

Each subtrack is introduced by a brief summary of the subtrack’s focus and a table listing the titles, estimated costs, products, and benefits of each problem statement in the subtrack. The problem statements follow.

SUBTRACK 11-1. CONCRETE PAVEMENT RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

This subtrack provides the framework and funding for the CP Road Map Research Management Plan Administrative support group. This subtrack also assesses the successful Netherlands’ Roads to the Future program to develop an accelerated evaluation and implementation system for innovative concrete pavement technologies. The system will link long-term vision to short-term action. Table 60 provides an overview of this subtrack.

Table 60. Subtrack 11-1 overview.

Problem Statement

Estimated Cost

Products

Benefits

11-1-1. The CP Road Map Research Management Plan Administrative Support Group

$8.5 million ($850,000/year)

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

11-1-2. Accelerated Evaluation and Implementation of Concrete Pavement Research and Technology

$5–$10 million (50 percent from public sector)

An innovative program for accelerated evaluation and implementation of concrete pavement research and technology to successfully meet future needs.

Innovative concrete pavement technologies and processes that will move from concept to field evaluation to implementation in a compressed period of time, future concrete pavement needs met for agency-owners, and an opportunity for contractors to innovate and generate new solutions to problems.

Problem Statement 11-1-1. The CP Road Map Research Management Plan Administrative Support Group

Track: 11. Concrete Pavement Economics and Business Management.

Subtrack: 11-1. Concrete Pavement Research and Technology Management
and Implementation.

Approximate duration: Not available.

Estimated cost: $8.5 million ($850,000/year).

The CP Road Map Research Management Plan outlines a progressive, cooperative approach to managing and conducting the CP Road Map research. Under this plan, organizations identify common interests, partner with each other in executing specific contracts, and produce and share a product that is greater than the sum of its parts.

The research management plan emphasizes scope control, research phasing, reporting, systems integration, voluntary peer review, maintenance of the research database, program-wide technology transfer, and assistance to organizations that want to leverage their funds and human resources. It outlines a four-tier system of participation and responsibility: an EAC, an administrative support group, track coordinators, and sustaining organizations.

A tri-party EAC, representing FHWA, State transportation departments, and industry, will provide broad oversight of CP Road Map. It will be a decisionmaking and policy-making facilitating group.

An administrative support group will provide professional management services for the EAC and, to a lesser degree, the research track coordinators. It will be the “doing” body for all coordinating and support activities, like maintaining the research database.

Research track coordinating teams will coordinate and oversee all activities within a specific research track.

Sustaining organizations (agencies, consultants, universities, professional associations, and other organizations that have specialized interests and skills and are interested in pooling earmarked or dedicated funds) will assume responsibility for conduct of research through cooperation, partnering, and funding agreements.

This problem statement represents the work and funding of the administrative support group.

Problem Statement 11-1-2. Accelerated Evaluation and Implementation of Concrete Pavement Research and Technology

Track: 11. Concrete Pavement Economics and Business Management.

Subtrack: 11-1. Concrete Pavement Research and Technology Management and Implementation.

Approximate duration: Not available.

Estimated cost: $5–$10 million (50 percent from public sector).

Major technological advancements often take years to make it through the concept, research, demonstration, validation, and implementation stages before becoming part of practice. Highway agency-owners and the concrete paving industry cannot wait 10–15 years for the technologies and processes developed in the CP Road Map. A method is needed to accelerate the process of research and technology evaluation and implementation.

The successful Netherlands’ Roads to the Future program should be considered as a model for or as input into an accelerated concrete pavement research and technology evaluation and implementation program in the United States. The program is an innovative approach to developing and testing long-range solutions to future highway demands in a relatively short period of time. In the program, the highway agency, in cooperation with external partners, identifies future highway functional requirements in areas such as traffic expectations, environmental concerns, and pavement performance. Contractors are invited to offer solutions, no matter how unconventional, to the predefined highway functional requirements. Proposals are selected for field demonstration and evaluation within 2 years. In this way, long-term vision is linked to innovative short-term action. Technical advancements that previously might take 10–15 years are now made possible in 2–3 years.

This research will evaluate the Netherlands’ Roads to the Future model and develop a similar research and technology evaluation and implementation program to accelerate concrete pavement technology advancements in the United States.

The tasks include the following:

Examine the Netherlands’ Roads to the Future program, including identification of future highway requirements, the request for proposals, cooperative funding, demonstration projects, short-term methods of proving long-term requirements will be met, and intellectual property agreements.

Identify specific challenges that the U.S. concrete pavement industry will face in meeting the needs of the next generation of pavements 30 years from now. Consider end-product functional requirements such as rapid construction and rehabilitation, traffic expectations, noise abatement, and environmental advancements. Select the highest priority challenges.

Develop a request for proposals for each challenge selected.

Review and select the most promising proposals.

Build the required demonstration projects. Evaluate the demonstration projects to prove the concrete pavement will meet the specified future requirements.

Use technology transfer activities identified throughout the CP Road Map to ensure rapid implementation of successfully proven technologies and processes.

Benefits: Innovative concrete pavement technologies and processes that will move from concept to field evaluation to implementation in a compressed period of time, future concrete pavement needs met for agency-owners, and an opportunity for contractors to innovate and generate new solutions to problems.

Products: An innovative program for accelerated evaluation and implementation of concrete pavement research and technology to meet future needs successfully.

Implementation: This work will provide the mechanism for many concrete pavement technology innovations developed in the CP Road Map to be evaluated in the field and implemented at an accelerated rate.

SUBTRACK 11-2. CONCRETE PAVEMENT ECONOMICS AND LIFE-CYCLE COSTS

This subtrack addresses the economics of concrete pavements, including macroeconomics analysis and whole life-cycle costs. Table 61 provides an overview of this subtrack.

Table 61. Subtrack 11-2 overview.

Problem Statement

Estimated Cost

Products

Benefits

11-2-1. Achieving Sustainability with Concrete Pavements

$500,000–$750,000

Macroanalysis of whole life factors related to concrete pavements.

A study of the broader issues associated with cement, aggregate, construction, rehabilitation, and concrete pavement salvaging that allows policymakers and engineers to examine the full societal value of concrete pavements and recommend improvements.

Advanced mix-of-fixes strategies that address a variety of performance and budget requirements and demonstration of the need to develop additional concrete pavement products that meet price and performance criteria.

Quantifications of a reasonable percentage of concrete pavement work with service life needs anywhere from 10–60 years.

User cost factors that more accurately show value derived from smoothness, skid, noise, traffic shutdown, rolling resistance, and other factors associated with pavements.

More accurately and effectively determined user costs, as well as the ability for the owner to examine the interrelationships between product cost, performance, and user impact more accurately within the LCC framework and a more informed pavement selection decision.

11-2-4. Optimizing Concrete Pavement Life-Cycle Decisions

$1–$2 million

All-in-one tool for optimizing material selection, structural and functional design, construction, preservation, rehabilitation, and user impacts, as well as a high-speed software program that integrates elements of the research from other tracks.

Engineers and managers who better understand the initial costs associated with engineering details as they relate to long-term performance and engineers and managers who understand the overall economics that link construction costs with different pavement options and performance requirements.

Sustainable development is defined as development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Concrete pavements use products and processes that can offer a broad set of benefits and opportunities for a more sustainable environment. To understand these benefits, decisionmakers must understand how pavement structure can support the three pillars of sustainability: environmental, social, and economic benefits. Concrete pavements can improve air quality, reduce energy consumption and heat load, manage storm water, reduce raw material consumption, increase the use of industrial waste and byproducts as replacement material, and increase the durability and longevity of the pavement structure itself. This research will identify and substantiate the roles concrete pavements play in sustainable development and develop a sustainability model protocol that the U.S. highway community can use to assess future product changes.

The tasks include the following:

Conduct a literature review and identify the various sustainability models that are used to analyze pavement systems. Identify the model most conducive to the United States.

Identify the strong and weak points of the model, addressing energy consumption in manufacture, use of industrial byproducts in production, haul and build criteria, user energy requirements (for trucks and vehicles), maintenance requirements, reconstruction, and recycling. User requirements should consider safety factors including skid, splash and spray, night visibility, noise, and delay time. The model also should develop a sustainability value that can assess the effectiveness of different applications.

Upgrade the model to include any variable omitted as a result of task 2.

Demonstrate the effectiveness of the model through a series of case studies.

Prepare and conduct three regional workshops.

Write the final documents and report.

Benefits: A study of the broader issues associated with cement, aggregate, construction, rehabilitation, and concrete pavement salvaging that allows policymakers and engineers to examine the full societal value of concrete pavements and recommend improvements.

The mix-of-fixes concept, developed by MDOT, identifies a family of renewal solutions for pavements and bridges that can be incorporated into capital improvement projects. These solutions vary in cost and expected service life. Relative costs could vary greatly per square unit of work, while service life could vary from 3 to 5 years for surface treatments and thin overlays to 50 years or more for total reconstruction. Generally, a longer desired service life (one that minimizes downstream project traffic disruptions) requires a higher initial cost. However, while MDOT recognizes the need for the mix of fixes, it also recognizes the limited effectiveness of certain preservation strategies. The need for accelerated renewal and minimal disruption does not necessarily mark all infrastructure elements within a corridor for total reconstruction, replacement, and longest life solutions. How, then, can mix-of-fixes options be applied cost effectively while minimizing both current and downstream disruption?

The tasks include the following:

Identify the concrete pavement mix-of-fixes strategies currently available to State highway agencies including representative costs, service life, and the downstream impact of future renewal efforts. Strategies should describe the design lives of various key work elements for 15 to 60 years in various pavement scenarios. The strategies should also consider fixes known to be heavy maintenance items, such as CPR, whitetopping, and bonded and unbonded concrete overlays.

Evaluate how these mix-of-fixes strategies can be integrated into renewal strategies to optimize the funds available, minimize impact on traffic, and maintain desired service levels.

Determine the overall reliability of assumptions about the life of each renewal strategy and the impact that shortened life may have on downstream traffic disruptions as well as the number of back-to-back short life strategies that could be applied to bridges and pavements.

Determine the optimal time for selecting the proper fix, including advanced methodologies for determining current structure or pavement condition and remaining life.

Prepare case studies that demonstrate the impact of integrating mix-of-fixes strategies into the corridor and broader network funding demands.

Benefits: Quantifications of a reasonable percentage of concrete pavement work with service life needs anywhere from 10 to 60 years.

Products: Advanced mix-of-fixes strategies that address a variety of performance and budget requirements; demonstration of the need to develop additional concrete pavement products that meet price and performance criteria.

Implementation: The analysis of economic and systemic impacts of mix-of-fixes strategies resulting from this research will be made available and useful through technology transfer activities.

Benefits: More accurately and effectively determined user costs and the ability for the
owner to examine the interrelationships between product cost and performance. User impact more accurately within the life-cycle cost framework and a more informed pavement selection decision.

Implementation: The new user cost methodologies will update the life-cycle cost procedures developed under FHWA Demonstration Project 115, Probabilistic Life-Cycle Cost Analysis in Pavement Design, that are now incorporated in the MEPDG.(14,1)

Create a high-speed software program that integrates elements of the research from other tracks.

Benefits: Better life-cycle decision tools.

Products: All-in-one tool for optimizing material selection, structural and functional design, construction, preservation, rehabilitation, and user impacts and a high-speed software program that integrates elements of the research from other tracks.

Implementation: Related research from other tracks will be integrated into a software program that will provide necessary life-cycle data. The life-cycle decision tools generated from this research will be shared through technology transfer.

Problem Statement 11-2-5. Concrete Pavement Economic Analysis Series

Track: 11. Concrete Pavement Economics and Business Management.

Subtrack: 11-2. Concrete Pavement Economics and Life-Cycle Costs.

Approximate duration: Not available.

Estimated cost: $500,000–$750,000.

Though economic factors are crucial for concrete pavement design and construction, researchers often have only a loose sense of costs, usually initial or life-cycle costs as well as one or two ingredients. Concrete pavement solutions normally have high initial costs that are returned with a lower life-cycle cost. Additionally, engineers develop ideas and technologies to improve concrete pavement performance with little knowledge about the overall cost impacts. Two elements of the cost issue need to be considered.

The first element is the microeconomic determinations that estimate the impact of various engineering details on overall pavement price and performance. ACPA has done this kind of estimate, looking at the cost implications of individual items such as longitudinal tie-bars, drainable bases, and cement content in relation to a standard design. The research in this problem statement will develop a more robust model that more accurately determines the impact of the engineering details including new and innovative details, on materials, labor, and equipment costs.

The second element is the macroeconomic determinations that estimate the cost-to-performance relationship for various concrete pavement solutions, comparing them to each other as well as to other pavement types. This element includes the economics of long life pavement solutions, short life solutions such as UTW, rehabilitation using recycled materials from the existing pavement, the impacts of traffic on costs, warranty and insurance issues, and foundation selection.

The tasks include the following:

Develop a software program for conducting concrete pavement economic studies, including first-cost study, life-cycle costs, and user costs. The software may be divided into two programs, one addressing microeconomics and the other addressing macroeconomics. Consider using probabilistic approaches, estimates, ranges, inflation rates, etc.

Identify a series of concrete pavement economic study topics and conduct studies.

Compile a list of current important cost topics and conduct a series of analyses using the new software and guidelines developed in task 1. Prepare full study reports on the topics.

Ensure that the final products and case studies will help engineers clearly and professionally distinguish the cost differentials between alternatives.

Benefits: Engineers and managers who better understand the initial costs associated with engineering details as they relate to long-term performance and engineers and managers who understand the overall economics that link construction costs with different pavement options and performance requirements.

Contracting methods that account for the slightly higher initial costs, lower life-cycle costs, and different maintenance and rehabilitation options for concrete pavements compared to asphalt pavements, as well as a manual that will help decisionmakers integrate the design, procurement, maintenance, and warranties into packages that resolve these issues and develop consensus with the industry to provide the services.

11-3-2. The Next Generation of Incentive-Based Concrete Pavement Construction Specifications

$1.25–
$1.75 million

A manual of innovative incentives for concrete pavements that will move beyond the current A+B, lane rental, and smoothness incentives and focus on such issues as total pavement structure, advanced surface characteristics, functional issues, traffic management, and cost + time + quality (A+B+Q).

A new series of incentives that will significantly improve pavement attributes, such as noise or skid, and the overall concrete pavement product allowing contractors who pay attention to detail, workmanship, and sound planning to distinguish themselves from those producing borderline work and the first new incentive-based specifications to emerge since the early 1990s.

This research will organize, evaluate, and further implement alternative contracting mechanisms to accommodate a greater variety of contracting methods for specific concrete pavement applications. Many States are exploring contracting options that might accelerate project completion time, reduce overall costs, improve quality, and reward contractors for exceptional performance. However, inherent risks are associated with any new contracting procedure. Fully understanding and evaluating different options and applying those that will most benefit the States is important. The ways in which various alternative contracting strategies can be used effectively in concrete pavement technology must be determined. Risk sharing or transfer as a result of these strategies must also be quantified between the State highway agencies and the concrete paving industry. Performance-based maintenance and warranties will be addressed.

The tasks include the following:

Identify and organize the alternative concrete pavement contracting strategies used in the United States over the past 10–15 years.

Identify and organize the alternative concrete pavement contracting strategies currently emerging or in practice in the international communities. Organize the alternative contracting procedures to help determine the potential benefits of the procedure in terms of time, quality, innovation, cost containment, services, risk sharing, etc. Identify the legal and administrative barriers that may impact implementation as well as barriers that result from insufficiently understanding the risk involved.

Examine warranties and post-construction responsibilities placed on the contractor to determine the risk and risk transfer required. Include a rational approach for determining the impact of warranty costs compared to the costs of the State highway agency doing repairs compared to repairs done without a warranty.

Develop guide language for the various contracting techniques.

Conduct national and regional outreach efforts to present the information and collect feedback from State highway agencies and the construction industry.

Conduct national experiments and evaluations.

Prepare final reports.

Benefits: Contracting methods that account for the slightly higher initial costs, lower life-cycle costs, and different maintenance and rehabilitation options that concrete pavements have compared to asphalt pavements as well as a manual that will help decisionmakers integrate the design, procurement, maintenance, and warranties into packages that resolve these issues and develop consensus with the industry to provide the services.

Since the mid-1980s, incentives (e.g., A+B contracting and lane-by-lane rental) have been used in highway construction to optimize attributes such as construction time management and pavement strength and smoothness. Benefits include a noticeable improvement in concrete pavement smoothness. However, the state of the art has not advanced beyond the current incentives. For example, many experts call for an incentive for overall concrete pavement quality rather than for one or two attributes. Quality becomes an even larger issue in A+B contracting where speed is sometimes thought to compromise quality. This research addresses construction incentives, proposing innovative new ideas, developing guide language, and organizing experimental projects. The new incentives will allow contractors who pay attention to detail, workmanship, and sound planning to distinguish themselves from those producing borderline work.

The tasks include the following:

Synthesize the background and state of the art of concrete pavement incentives.

Identify a methodology that identifies a quality factor for an entire concrete pavement section. Incentive or disincentive amounts should take into account probabilistic methodologies using performance-based design models.

Benefits: A new series of incentives that will significantly improve pavement attributes, such as noise or skid, and the overall concrete pavement product allowing contractors who pay attention to detail, workmanship, and sound planning to distinguish themselves from those producing borderline work. The first new incentive-based specifications to emerge since the early 1990s.

Products: A manual of innovative incentives for concrete pavements that will move beyond the current A+B, lane rental, and smoothness incentives and focus on such issues as total pavement structure, advanced surface characteristics, functional issues, traffic management, and A+B+Q.

Implementation: This project will result in standard specifications for a new generation of incentives.

This subtrack addresses technology transfer efforts beyond those identified in the other tracks in the CP Road Map. The educational and training work identified here (best practices manual, workforce education programs, engineering compendium, and white paper series) will be conducted in coordination with other problem statements as appropriate. Table 63 provides an overview of this subtrack.

Table 63. Subtrack 11-4 overview.

Problem Statement

Estimated Cost

Products

Benefits

11-4-1. Concrete Pavement Best Practices Manual

$750,000–$1.25 million

A national compilation of concrete pavement best practices for design, construction, materials, and maintenance.

Continuously defined best practice, allowing the concrete paving industry to keep pace with innovation that has moved into practice and offering incentives for doing work in a certain way, as well as a community unified around consensus.

An innovative technology transfer program with new methods and procedures for advancing concrete pavement industry technology quickly and efficiently and an innovative way for identifying and educating the workforce that addresses new technology, new workers on current technology, and reinforcement training.

A new approach to technology transfer that will help the industry reduce its current 15-year timeframe dramatically in evaluating and accepting new products, helping entrepreneurs develop and share new ideas and technologies.

A book that will provide a solid history of concrete pavement research and decisionmaking that clearly shows the fundamental decisions made and a resource document for the next generation of concrete pavement engineers and researchers who will build on this knowledge as they advance toward full-scale mechanistic approaches.

11-4-4. Concrete Pavement White Paper Series

$150,000–$200,000

A concrete pavement white paper series that provides a framework for entrepreneurs and innovators within government, industry, and academia to organize their thoughts and create discussion about new concepts, products, and methodologies within the industry.

A white paper program that will call attention to ideas, help educate the concrete paving industry about important policy and technical issues, and implement critical strategies more quickly.

Many variables complicate the chemistry of concrete pavement mixtures, including multiple aggregate and cement sources, different pavement characteristics required for different situations, and numerous and sometimes incompatible mineral and chemical admixtures. Construction variables such as weather, mix delivery times, finishing practices, and pavement opening schedules further complicate mixtures. However, mixture materials, mix design, and pavement construction are not isolated steps in the road building process. All affect and are affected by the others in ways that determine overall concrete pavement durability and long-term performance. Therefore, optimizing pavement performance requires an integrated systems approach to designing and building pavements.

Significant research advancements have been made in concrete mixture materials and design as well as in construction technologies and practice. However, actual field practice has not kept pace. A resource is needed to help engineers, QC personnel, contractors, suppliers, technicians, and trades people appreciate new technologies, tests, and practices that can identify materials or concrete properties and construction practices that lead to premature pavement distress. The resource is also needed so researchers can learn to implement these technologies, tests, and practices in the field and access how-to and troubleshooting information quickly.

The tasks include the following:

Describe concrete pavement construction as an integrated system in which materials selection, mix design, and construction practices all affect each other in many ways.

Describe critical mix properties that predict overall quality of the final product.

Compile information about technologies, tests, and new practices that will optimize materials selection, mix design, and construction practices when more widely used. Describe how and why to implement these technologies.

Provide a detailed easy-to-use decision tree or matrix for using recommended technologies, tests, and new practices as well as a thorough and convenient troubleshooting guide.

Develop a new and innovative approach to supplement written text with video.

Benefits: Continuously defined best practice, allowing the concrete paving industry to keep pace with innovation that has moved into practice and offering incentives for doing work in a certain way. Other benefits include a community unified around consensus.

Products: A national compilation of concrete pavement best practices for design, construction, materials, and maintenance.

Implementation: The concrete pavement best practices resulting from this research will be implemented through technology transfer.

Concrete pavement technology transfer in the United States can take up to 15 years from introduction to adoption. The concrete pavement industry can cite many case studies to support this timeframe and could make a case for one even longer. This length of time discourages investment in the industry and frustrates those trying to invest. The many barriers include State border issues, lack of State highway agency experience and resources, method specifications, and highly variable local practices and customs, to name a few. This research will develop accelerated technology transfer and rapid education programs with a high certainty of success.

The tasks include the following:

Examine the current technology transfer system and identify how items enter a national, regional, and State agenda for technology transfer.

Examine how technologies are sorted in terms of evaluation, experimentation, implementation, or general training.

Identify ways that FHWA, industry, and State highway agencies can agree on topics of mutual interest that are worthy of acceleration.

Identify innovative ways to transfer technology, going beyond ideas such as teleconferencing, Web-based initiatives, and listservs. Concepts to investigate should include the management decisionmaking process, technology white papers, and mutual training course development. Joint training among all parties, including the concrete industry workforce, should also be examined. In this effort, researchers should develop different structures for executives, engineers, technicians, and laborers.

Develop and implement an integrated technology transfer system that identifies, develops, and implements new methodologies that FHWA, industry, and State highway agencies can use to accelerate technology transfer.

Benefits: A new approach to technology transfer that will help the industry dramatically reduce its current 15-year timeframe in evaluating and accepting new products, which helps entrepreneurs develop and share new ideas and technologies.

Products: An innovative technology transfer program with new methods and procedures for advancing concrete pavement industry technology quickly and efficiently as well as an innovative way for identifying and educating the workforce that addresses new technology, new workers on current technology, and reinforcement training.

Implementation: The technology transfer program resulting from this work will include the necessary mechanisms for its own implementation.

Much of the principle research for current concrete pavement design was done more than 80 years ago. Pioneer work from that time is still the basis of the knowledge used by today’s engineers. However, while many of the original researchers have passed away and many more are retiring from active work, the community has not organized their work, gathered the original manuscripts, or prepared an all-inclusive concrete pavement engineering manual. A small group of civil engineers recently outlined a potential manual that would contain at least 56 technical chapters. That same group identified nearly 900 base documents that capture elements of concrete pavement engineering principles. The next generation stands to lose an enormous amount of history. Because no single library contains original works, these documents are often difficult to find. With the advent of mechanistic designs, many mechanistic design principles require a working knowledge of these base principles. This work will compile a comprehensive concrete pavement engineering compendium.

The tasks include the following:

Outline an all-inclusive concrete pavement engineering manual.

Develop strategies for collecting the original works and documenting them electronically.

Organize a working group of recognized experts that are willing to prepare summary documents that would be included in the manual.

Prepare the concrete pavement engineering compendium.

Identify and select a location for the document that will update it every 10 years as knowledge continues to develop.

Benefits: A book that will provide a solid history of concrete pavement research and decisionmaking, clearly showing the fundamental decisions made and a resource document for the next generation of concrete pavement engineers and researchers who will build off this knowledge as they advance towards full-scale mechanistic approaches.

A white paper is a brief government report that typically argues a specific position or solution to a problem. They have become a common tool for introducing technological innovations and products. For the concrete pavement industry, a white paper program can serve several functions. First, white papers can educate a reader using unbiased, authoritative, neutral, and factual information on any topic from policy to highly technical subjects. White papers also describe a position that a company or organization can take as a leader in concrete pavement technology. Finally, white papers can help key decisionmakers and influence peddlers by using data and facts to justify implementing solutions.

The intent of the research is to allow entrepreneurs to organize new ideas, provide a vehicle for calling attention to these ideas, develop a consensus opinion, and eventually lead to informed decisions about research, implementation, policy, or training.

The tasks include the following:

Develop the structure for a concrete pavement white paper program by defining information type, length, tone, visual appearance, and purpose. Identify ways that white papers can be accepted for review, commented on, and recorded.

Identify the lead organization that will manage the white paper program.

Develop an outreach and communication program.

Develop a series of white papers to provide momentum to the effort.

Complete a final report that organizes the effort.

Benefits: A white paper program that will call attention to ideas, help educate the concrete paving industry about important policy and technical issues, and more quickly implement critical strategies.

Products: A concrete pavement white paper series that provides a framework for entrepreneurs and innovators within government, industry, and academia to organize their thoughts and create discussion about new concepts, products, and methodologies within the industry.

Implementation: The results of this research will be made available through distribution and marketing of the concrete pavement white series.